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LIBRARY 

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FHE  LIBRARY 

OF 

IE  UNIVERSITY 
F  CALIFORNIA 


Statement 

*     or 

The  Strike  Situation 
in  Colorado 


A  Report 

of  the  Special  Committee 
Appointed  to  Investigate 

and  Report  to 
l£ensington  Council  No.  1 6 

(Junior  Order 

United  American  Mechanics 
Denver,  Colorado} 


Fourth  Edition 


Unanimously  Adopted  May  Nineteen 
Nineteen  Hundred  Fourteen 

Copyrighted,  1914,  by  C.  W.Varnum,  Denver,  Colo. 


Hi|  M 

iliiftr 


,4, 


Statement 

STRIKE  SITUATION  IN 
COLORADO 

Denver,  Colo  .  M;.y  19,  1914. 
To  the  Officers  and  Members  of 
Kensington  Council  No.  16, 

Junior  Order  United  American  Mechanics: 

Your  Committee,  appointed  to  investigate  the  strike 
situation  in  this  State  and  to  prepare  a  statement  in 
relation  thereto,  would  respectfully  make  the  follow- 
ing report: 

Kensington  Council  No.  16,  Jr.  O.  U.  A.  M.,  of  Den- 
ver, Colorado,  is  a  patriotic  fraternal  society.  Its 
only  interest  in  the  present  strike  controversy  is  as 
to  its  effect  upon  the  public  welfare.  Its  membership 
is  composed  of  professional  men,  workingmen  and 
business  men,  but  so  far  as  we  know  not  a  single 
member  of  the  Council  is  interested  as  employee,  at- 
torney, employer,  or  in  any  other  capacity,  either 
directly  or  indirectly  with  either  of  the  parties  to  the 
strike  controversy  now  raging  in  this  State. 

We  feel,  therefore,  that  we  have  the  opportunity 
and  that  it  is  our  right  and  duty  to  give  to  the  Order 
and  to  the  world  an  account  of  causes  and  effects, 
past,  present,  and  future  of  this  ill-starred  contro- 
versy, and  also  to  submit  some  reflections  as  to  the 
remedy. 

Colorado's  Coal  Fields 

Colorado  is  a  great  coal  state.  We  have  more  than 
11,000,000  acres  of  coal  lands  of  which  by  far  the 
greater  part  still  belongs  to  the  U.  S.  Government. 
473,000  acres  belong  to  the  State  of  Colorado  as 
Trustee  for  the  School  Fund  and  other  funds.  Of 
these  473,000  acres  belonging  to  the  State  less  than 
14,000  are  under  lease  and  of  the  14,000  leased  to 
private  parties  only  5,500  acres  are  productive.  Less 
than  3%  of  the  vast  coal  acreage  of  Colorado  is  held 
in  private  ownership.  Less  than  5  per  cent  of  the 
total  tonnage  of  coal  mined  in  Colorado  is  from  lands 
belonging  to  the  State.  The  two  greatest  fields  are 
popularly  called  the  northern  and  southern,  and  they 
are  both  non-union.  The  unions  have,  however, 
looked  upon  these  great  fields  employing  in  normal 
times  about  13,000  men  with  avaricious  eyes  and  have 
made  many  attempts  to  unionize  them.  In  the  fall  of 
1913  emissaries  of  the  union  were  sent  here  from 
Indiana,  West  Virginia,  and  other  States  and  all  the 
power  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  was  focussed 
upon  the  southern  fields,  and  a  strike  was  ordered. 


Yj'iAfl 

2  THE   STRIKE   IN    COLORADO 

The  operators  declared  that  they  could  get  along 
very  well  without  the  union  men,  and  soon,  following 
their  usual  tactics  on  such  occasions  the  union  men 
began  to  beat  up  and  even  to  kill  non-union  work- 
men, and  on  October  28th  the  National  Guard  was 
sent  into  the  district  to  keep  the  peace.  This  they 
did  for  six  months  with  the  loss  of  but  two  lives,  one 
by  accident,  and  the  other  killed  while  resisting 
arrest  with  arms  in  his  hands,  neither  being  union 
men. 

April  17th,  1914,  the  troops  with  the  exception  of 
34  men  left  at  Ludlow  were  withdrawn  because  the 
State  Auditor  had  thrown  every  possible  obstacle  in 
the  path  to  prevent  the  payment  of  the  troops  or  of 
providing  for  their  support  in  the  field. 

Immediately  upon  their  withdrawal  pillage,  arson 
and  murder  broke  out  in  their  most  horrible  form. 
April  20th  came  the  battle  of  Ludlow. 

The  Battle  of  Ludlow 

The  striker's  tent  colony  at  Ludlow  was  an  armed 
camp  under  strict  control  of  the  Union  leaders  and 
was  peopled  by  a  class  of  persons  graphically  de- 
scribed in  the  report  of  the  Military  Commission  as 
"ignorant,  lawless  and  savage  South  European  peas- 
ants." They  spoke  twenty  or  more  different  lan- 
guages, and  most  of  them  could  not  speak  English 
at  all.  While  they  were  of  many  nationalities  the 
Greeks  predominated,  especially  as  a  fighting  force. 

The  tent  colony  was  purposely  so  located  as  to 
command  an  unobstructed  view  of  the  railroad  depot 
near  at  hand  where  workingmen  were  obliged  to  get 
on  and  off  the  trains.  The  conduct  of  the  strikers 
during  the  winter  was  such  that  it  was  necessary  to 
send  a  detail  of  soldiers  to  meet  every  train  in  order 
to  protect  the  non-union  men  from  physical  violence. 

No  man  wishing  to  leave  the  colony  and  go  to  work 
could  do  so  except  under  guard  of  the  State  troops, 
and  during  the  winter  over  a  hundred  men  were  in 
this  way  taken  from  the  tent  colony  under  military 
guard  at  their  own  request. 

April  20th  a  detail  of  men  was  sent  in  the  usual 
manner  to  rescue  a  man  who  had  called  for  help  to 
get  away,  and  as  usual  the  negotiations  were  had 
with  Louis  Tikas.  This  time  for  some  reason  the 
man  was  not  given  up,  and  instead  the  Greeks  took 
to  the  hills  and  appeared  to  be  preparing  for  action 
while  the  women  and  children  ran  to  the  shelter  of 
a  deeo  gulch  north  of  the  colony.  There  were  only 


THE   STRIKE   IN    COLORADO  3 

.4  soldiers  on  duty  and  they  were  scattered  in  small 
m-oups,  most  of  them  being  two  or  three  miles  away. 
Tikas  went  back  to  his  Greeks  promising  to  call  them 
back  to  the  colony  but  failed  to  do  so.  The  soldiers 
saw  the  Greeks  running  to  the  hills  and  taking  pos- 
session of  vantage  points  around  them  but  their  offi- 
cers would  not  allow  them  to  fire  until  the  strikers 
first  opened  fire  on  them.  This  is  one  of  the  many 
instances  showing  that  while  the  soldiers  suffered 
from  all  the  dangers  and  liabilities  of  war  they  were 
prevented  from  taking  advantage  of  its  privileges. 
Had  the  soldiers  been  free  to  fight  their  enemies  the 
Greeks  would  never  have  reached  the  hills  and  the 
battle  would  have  been  much  shorter.  As  it  was  when 
the  firing  from  the  Greeks  had  lasted  long  enough 
to  show  that  they  really  meant  business  the  troops 
returned  it  and  then  these  34  soldiers  fought  and 
held  at  bay  several  hundred  foreigners  from  10  a.  m. 
until  2  p.  m.  when  reinforcements  began  to  arrive, 
though  at  the  most  there  were  only  about  120  soldiers 
engaged.  The  number  of  strikers  engaged  has  been 
variously  estimated  at  from  400  to  800  men.  They 
were  heavily  armed  with  the  latest  and  best  models 
of  high  power  rifles,  although  their  leaders  had 
solemnly  assured  the  State  government  tKat  they  had 
surrendered  their  arms.  They  used  explosive  bullets 
and  so-called  "poisoned"  bullets  (both  expressly  for- 
bidden by  the  rules  of  civilized  warfare)  and  some 
of  their  ammunition  was  manufactured  in  Greece. 
They  were  amply  supplied  with  ammunition,  over 
15,000  rounds  having  been  found  in  John  Lawson's 
tent  after  the  battle. 

When  the  reinforcements  arrived  the  soldiers  began 
to  press  forward  and  steadily  drove  the  Greeks  back 
until  they  took  a  range  of  sand  hills  where  a  soldier 
named  Martin  was  wounded.  The  fire  of  the  Greeks 
was  concentrated  upon  this  position  and  the  soldiers 
were  unable  to  hold  the  hills.  There  were  but  four 
men  in  the  detachment  with  Martin  and  they  were 
unable  to  carry  him  across  the  exposed  ground,  so 
they  placed  him  in  a  depression  in  the  hills  where 
he  would  be  safe  from  the  fire  from  both  sides  and 
retreated. 

Heroic  Rescue  Work 

Another  detachment  fought  its  way  up  to  the  tent 
colony  where  they  heard  the  cries  of  women  and 
children.  The  tents  had  caught  fire  before  the  sold- 
iers arrived,  but  when  they  heard  the  cries  of  the 
women  and  children  they  rushed  in  among  the  burn- 
ing tents  and  rescued  between  25  and  30  and  carried 


4  THE    STRIKE    IN    COLORADO 

them  away  to  safety.  While  engaged  in  this  humane 
work  they  were  under  constant  fire  from  the  Greeks. 
To  save  these  women  and  children  the  soldiers,  while 
still  under  fire  from  the  Greeks  were  obliged  to  tear 
up  tent  floors  which  had  been  nailed  down  over  the 
openings  to  the  pits  and  drag  the  cowering  occupants 
out  by  main  force.  Then  these  soldiers  who  had  had 
no  pay  for  three  months  took  up  a  collection  among 
themselves  and  raised  $18.00  that  night  for  the  relief 
of  these  suffering  women  and  children. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  the  sand  hills  were  retaken 
by  the  soldiers  who  then  found  the  body  of  their 
comrade  Martin  with  his  head  blown  off  and  his  limbs 
broken.  This  barbarity  shocked  and  infuriated  them 
and,  of  course,  it  was  immediately  reported  to  Lieut. 
Linderfeldt.  A  few  minutes  after  this  Louis  Tikas 
was  captured,  after  he  had  been  fighting  all  day  with 
his  Greeks.  Acting  under  the  frightful  stress  of 
that  all  day's  battle,  where  the  strikers  numbered 
almost  20  to  1,  without  water,  food  or  rest  for 
nine  hours,  and  with  the  report  of  the  atrocities 
•committed  upon  the  body  of  his  comrade  Martin 
fresh  in  his  mind  Lieut.  Linderfeldt  is  reported  to 
nave  committed  the  unsoldierlike  offense  of  striking 
a  prisoner.  Whether  this  be  true  or  not  time  will 
determine  and  whether  if  true  the  excuse  is  sufficient 
can  only  be  known  when  all  the  facts  and  circum- 
stances are  developed.  But  at  least  the  provocation 
was  great. 

No  "Massacre  of  the  Innocents" 

There  was,  however,  no  firing  on  women  and  chil- 
dren unless  it  were  firing  by  the  Greeks  on  the 
little  Snyder  boy,  who  was  killed  by  a  striker's  bullet 
and  who  was  the  only  child  killed  or  even  struck  by 
a  bullet.  Both  sides  agree  also  that  no  woman  was 
struck  by  a  bullet  from  either  side.  The  thirteen 
women  and  children  who  were  suffocated  in  the  tiny 
pit  under  the  ground  not  large  enough  for  three  of 
them  to  remain  in  for  three  hours  and  live  were 
probably  dead  long  before  the  tents  caught  fire.  But 
in  any  event  the  soldiers  could  not  possibly  have  been 
to  blame  in  the  slightest  degree.  The  strikers  had 
rifle  pits  in  front  of  the  colony  tents  and  were  hidden 
in  the  arroya  or  gulch  behind  them  and  were  firing 
on  the  soldiers  from  both  places.  The  strikers  could 
easily  have  retreated  from  both  rifle  pits  and  from 
the  arroya  and  still  have  continued  the  •  fight  on 
equally  as  good  terms  from  some  other  vantage  point 
but  they  elected  not  to  do  so. 


THE   STRIKE   IN    COLORADO  5 

Women  and  Children  as  a  Shield 

The  death  of  these  women  and  children  was  a  most 
nmvt table  incident  of  this  unfortunate  battle  In  this 
inexcusable  war,  but  the  Greeks  started  the  war  and 
commenced  the  battle.  They  also  were  in  a  position 
to  know  that  the  women  and  children  were  in  the 
underground  pits  while  the  soldiers  were  not  in  a 
position  to  even  suspect  such  a  thing.  Among  civil- 
ized peoples  when  the  men  go  out  to  war  they  first 
put  women  and  children  in  places  of  safety  instead 
of  leaving  them  exposed  to  all  the  dangers  of  battle 
and  in  this  case  as  the  soldiers  had  seen  the  women 
and  children  running  to  the  arroya  where  they  would 
be  absolutely  safe  they  naturally  supposed  and  had 
a  right  to  suppose  that  they  were  all  out  of  danger. 
The  Greeks  who  must  have  known  that  some  women 
and  children  were  left  in  the  colony  could  have 
retreated  from  the  colony  or  could  easily  have 
changed  the  place  of  fighting  to  another  point,  and 
either  maneuver  would  have  stopped  the  battle  or 
have  changed  the  line  of  fire  so  that  the  women  and 
children  left  in  the  tents  would  have  been  safe.  They 
chose,  however,  to  do  neither,  but  to  continue  the 
fight  in  a  place  which  made  it  necessary  for  the  firing 
to  endanger  the  lives  of  their  own  women  and  chil- 
dren. 

The  fault,  then,  rests  squarely  upon  the  shoulders 
of  the  strikers  themselves  and  not  upon  the  members 
of  the  National  Guard  who  were  stationed  there  to 
uphold  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State,  who 
were  attacked  by  overwhelming  numbers  and  who 
were  fighting  for  their  lives  as  well. 

It  is  inconceivable  to  suppose  that  34  men  scattered 
in  three  or  four  groups  would  deliberately  attack  a 
very  much  larger  force  as  well  armed  and  better 
fortified  than  they  were  themselves. 

The  wonder  is  that  these  34  men  should  have  been 
able,  under  any  circumstances,  to  have  defended 
themselves  successfully  against  their  desperate  as- 
sailants. It  is  another  great  tribute  to  the  splendid 
fighting  material  composing  our  National  Guard. 

Machine  Guns 

The  troops  had  two  machine  guns,  one  of  which 
they  used  all  day  and  the  other  from  about  4  p.  m. 
These  guns  were  never  turned  on  the  tent  colony 
itself,  but  were  used  against  the  Greeks  entrenched 
in  the  sand  hills  and  rifle  pits  and  along  the  railroa-i 
tracks. 


6  THE    STRIKE   IN    COLORADO 

Admiral  Fletcher  threatened  to  destroy  Vera  Cruz 
with  the  great  cannon  of  the  American  fleet  unless 
sniping  from  the  house  tops  were  stopped. 

Return  of  the  National  Guard 

The  main  body  of  the  National  Guard  who  had 
been  returned  to  their  homes  were  called  back  to  the 
field  on  April  22nd,  and  although  they  had  had  no 
pay  for  three  months  and  the  families  of  many  of 
them  were  suffering  for  the  actual  necessities  of  life, 
they  loyally  took  up  their  duty  again,  and  if  the  ill- 
advised  truce  had  not  been  made  on  the  24th  peace 
would  have  been  quickly  re-established  by  the  swift 
defeat  of  the  strikers.  As  it  was,  the  strikers  took 
advantage  of  the  so-called  truce  to  burn  and  destroy 
half  .a  dozen  mines  and  to  murder  many  citizens  of 
the  State,  the  troops  being  compelled  by  the  terms 
of  the  truce  to  do  nothing  to  protect  either  life  or 
property. 

Then  came  the  call  for  the  federal  troops,  two  or 
three  desperate  battles  between  the  strikers  and  the 
National  Guard  brought  on  by  the  determination  of 
the  strikers  to  destroy  the  remaining  mines  in  the 
district,  the  defeat  and  surrender  of  the  strikers  to 
the  National  Guard,  the  arrival  of  the  federal  troops 
and  the  -withdrawal  of  the  State  troops  from  the 
strike  districts.  It  is  perhaps  worthy  of  note  that 
this  so-called  truce  as  well  as  the  final  surrender  of 
the  miners  was  negotiated  by  a  leading  lawyer  of 
Denver  with  as  much  nonchalance  as  though  he  were 
drawing  a  stipulation  for. the  continuance  of  a  petty 
case  in  a  justice  court. 

Foundation  of  the  Government 

This  nation  was  founded  upon  the  eternal  prin- 
ciples of  freedom  of  speech,  freedom  of  the  press, 
freedom  to  worship  God,  and  freedom  of  labor.  Free- 
dom of  labor  means  that  the  laborer  himself  shall 
be  permitted  to  choose  whether  he  shall  work  or  not, 
where  he  shall  work,  the  kind  of  work  he  shall  en- 
gage in  and  who  his  employer  shall  be.  All  these 
matters  to  be  decided  by  the  laborer  for  himself  and 
not  by  someone  else  for  him. 

Certain  ignorant,  ill-advised  and  vicious  people 
have  wilfully  .and  maliciously  misinterpreted  these 
rights,  deeming  freedom  of  speech  as  license  to 
malign  their  neighbors,  freedom  of  the  press  as 
license  to  distort  the  news  and  to  besmirch  and  be- 
foul this  country  and  its  institutions,  deeming  free- 


THE   STRIKE   IN    COLORADO  7 

dom  to  worship  God  as  license  to  persecute,  torture, 
and  even  to  kill  those  who  worship  him  in  a  different 
way.  and  deeming  freedom  of  labor  as  being  license 
to  forcibly  prevent  other  men  from  working. 

Labor  agitators  have  for  many  years  preached, 
taught  and  practised,  not  only  in  Colorado  but  in 
every  State  in  the  Union  the  doctrine  that  a  labor 
union  can  not  only  work  or  quit  work  as  it  pleases 
(which  is  its  inalienable  right),  but  that  a  labor 
union  can  also  rightfully  prevent  other  men  from 
working,  and  that  in  order  to  prevent  other  men 
from  working  the  union  men  have  the  right  not  only 
to  use  peaceful  persuasion  but  also  to  use  physical 
violence  upon  those  other  workingmen,  to  burn  and 
destroy  their  houses,  to  kill  them  by  secret  assassina- 
tion or  open  murder,  and  that  in  their  warfare  against 
non-union  men  the  union  men  have  the  right  to  openly 
fight  the  duly  constituted  authorities  of  both  State 
and  Nation  and  to  defy  and  insult  the  flag  of  our 
country. 

Agitators,  Not  Workers; 

These  labor  agitators  are  not  workers  themselves 
but  are  mere  parasites  on  workingmen's  organiza- 
tions, and  they  have  for  many  years  taught  their 
deluded  followers  class  distinctions,  class  hatred  and 
prejudice,  and  have  encouraged  class  war,  and  people 
who  ought  to  know  better  have  blindly  encouraged 
them  in  their  false  teachings. 

They  talk  of  "industrial  war"  as  glibly  and  glee- 
fully as  though  great  enterprises  were  built  up  by 
the  burning  and  destruction  of  property  and  as  though 
men  would  be  attracted  to  enterprises  in  which  they 
are  daily  in  danger  of  assassination. 

To  them  the  destruction  by  violence  of  a  factory 
<>r  plant  is  but  an  incident  in  the  carrying  on  of  their 
"industrial  war."  These  acts  of  violence  indeed  are 
a  very  important  and  helpful  factor  in  their  cam- 
i-aigns  for  raising  money. 

These  labor  agitators  under  different  names,  in 
Pennsylvania  as  Molly  Maguires,  in  Idaho  and 
Colorado  as  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  and 
now  as  the  United  Mine  Workers,  have  openly  taught 
and  freely  practised  the  use  of  force,  even  though  it 
lead  to  murder  as  proper  means  of  inciting  class 
hatred  and  class  war. 

The  confession  of  the  McNamaras  as  to  the  blow- 
ing up  of  the  Times  Building  in  Los  'Angeles  and 


8  THE   STRIKE  IN    COLORADO 

other  wholesale  destruction  of  properties  by  dyna- 
miters as  the  hired  agents  of  the  Structural  Steel 
Workers  illustrates  their  method  of  procedure. 

This  present  trouble  in  Colorado  was  deliberately 
brought  about  not  because  of  any  conditions  in  the 
mines  but  by  these  same  labor  agitators  who  are  not 
workers  and  who  seek  to  prevent  others  from  work- 
ing. 

That  they  are  mere  labor  agitators  with  no  inten- 
tion or  desire  to  work  or  to  plan  work  for  others  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  Gov.  Ammons  last  fall  offered 
to  the  United  Mine  Workers  thousands  of  acres  of 
unused  coal  lands  belonging  to  the  State  at  ten 
cents  per  ton  royalty  which  was  the  lowest  price,  but 
the  Mine  Workers  were  not  courteous  enough  even  to 
make  any  response  or  to  take  any  interest  in  the 
matter. 

This  business  of  organizing  unions,  fomenting 
strikes  and  especially  of  preparing  for  the  use  of 
violence  and  of  accustoming  their  members  to  the 
idea  of  killing  non-union  men  is  a  profession  in  itself. 

The  labor  leaders  in  this  trouble  are  not  miners, 
and  very  few  of  them  are  residents  of  Colorado.  They 
have  been  imported  into  the  State  and  especially  into 
the  strike  districts  for  the  purpose  of  inciting  strikes 
and  of  directing  hostilities  against  the  authorities. 

Louis  Tikas  never  was  a  miner  himself  but  was 
brought  from  Denver  to  the  strike  district  and  em- 
ployed by  the  Miner's  Union  as  interpreter  and  leader 
of  the  Greeks.  These  Greeks  are  reputed  to  be  in 
large  numbers  veterans  of  the  late  war  between 
Greece  and  Turkey.  If  this  be  true,  under  our  im- 
migration laws  they  ought  to  be  deported  as  unde- 
sirable citizens.  Certainly  this  suggestion  cannot 
be  considered  intemperate.  Men  who  come  to  the 
United  States  and  who  take  up  arms  against  it  and 
who,  before  they  have  learned  to  speak  the  English 
language,  murder  citizens  of  the  State,  are  surely 
undesirable  citizens  and  ought  to  be  sent  back  to  the 
land  from  which  they  came,  and  the  federal  govern- 
ment which  permitted  their  importation  owes  it  to 
the  State  of  Colorado  to  take  them  away  from  us. 

Not  a  Colorado  Problem 

In  this  connection  we  cannot  too  strongly  impress 
upon  the  country  that  this  is  not  a  Colorado  matter, 
but  purely  an  interstate  or  national  affair.  The 
trouble  did  not  originate  in  Colorado,  nor  is  it  of- 
ficered or  financed  here.  The  Miner's  Union  head- 


THE   STRIKE   IN   COLORADO  9 

quarters  is  at  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  and  from  there  have 
come  the  orders,  the  leaders  and  the  money  to  sup- 
port this  movement  which  is  not  merely  war  against 
Colorado,  and  which  does  not  simply  mean  war 
against  the  United  States,  but  which  in  its  essence 
and  ultimate  aim  is  war  against  organized  society 
everywhere.  Their  purpose  is  not  confined  to  the 
destruction  of  authority  here  but  their  real  purpose 
is  to  destroy  authority  everywhere.  This  is  a  very 
strong  statement,  but  the  history  of  the  movement 
bears  it  out  in  full. 

W.  T.  Hickey,  secretary  of  the  State  Federation 
of  Labor,  telegraphed  Congressman  Keating  in  com- 
menting on  the  situation  and  as  a  protest,  "we  take 
this  to  mean  that  they  (the  coal  companies)  will 
have  protection  of  the  federal  troops."  He  says  this 
as  though  he  considered  it  a  crime  for  the  federal 
troops  to  protect  the  coal  companies.  His  protest 
against  protection  for  the  companies  shows  that  he 
knows  that  they  have  need  of  protection  from  some 
one,  and  from  whom  could  it  be  except  from  him  and 
his  lawless  companions?  We  predict  that  if  the  coal 
companies  or  their  workmen  are  protected  by  the 
federal  troops  the  strikers  will  dig  up  the  guns  they 
do  not  even  pretend  they  have  surrendered  and  com- 
mence war  upon  the  United  States  just  as  they  have 
been  making  war  upon  Colorado. 

Many  outside  papers,  taking  their  cue  from  the 
position  of  our  local  papers,  have  called  this  striker's 
war,  with  its  deplorable  violence  and  loss  of  life, 
"The  Shame  of  Colorado."  It  should  more  properly 
be  called  "The  Shame  of  Labor  Unionism"  and  "The 
Shame  of  the  United  States." 

We  cannot  too  strongly  insist  that  this  is  not  in 
any  sense  a  Colorado  question.  We  are  the  focus  of 
all  eyes  today  because  today  the  striker's  war  is  here, 
but  tomorrow  it  may  be  in  West  Virginia,  or  Ohio, 
or  Pennsylvania,  or  Michigan,  or  any  other  State. 

The  shame,  the  suffering,  the  disgrace,  and  the 
fear  that  Colorado  suffers  today  jnay  tomorrow  be 
borne  by  any  State  against  which  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America  may  turn  its  attention.  The 
pretext  here  is  one  thing,  the  pretext  for  the  next 
outbreak  may  be  another,  but  always  the  real  cause 
is  the  fixed  determination  that  the  unions  shall  con- 
trol affairs  in  all  industrial  pursuits  and  that  the 
laws  of  the  labor  union  shall  take  precedence  over 
the  laws  of  the  land. 


10  THE    STRIKE   IN    COLORADO 

Abuse  of  the  National  Guard 

Nor  should  too  much  stress  be  laid  upon  abuse  of 
the  National  Guard  by  the  strikers  and  their  allies. 
These  unions  have  for  many  years  carefully  promul- 
gated a  sentiment  of  hatred  for  soldiers  whether  of 
the  regular  army  or  of  the  National  Guard  and  have 
even  gone  to  the  extent  of  declaring  in  their  own 
constitutions  that  a  man  cannot  belong  to  both  the 
union  and  to  the  army,  even  as  musicians.  They  also 
occupy  the  same  attitude  towards  the  police  and 
sheriffs  and  their  deputies  and  all  other  peace  offi- 
cers. Their  opposition  is  not  to  any  particular  form 
of  authority  but  to  authority  of  any  kind. 

Depraved  Leaders,  Brutal  Followers 

Practically  all  of  the  miners  involved  in  this  strike 
are  ignorant,  depraved  and  brutal  foreigners,  peasants 
from  the  lowest  and  most  hopeless  class  of  the  peoples 
of  southern  Europe,  who  know  little  and  care  less 
for  the  principles  of  free  government.  By  a  mistaken 
national  policy  men  of  this  type  have  been  permitted 
to  invade  this  country  at  the  rate  of  over  a  million 
a  year  so  that  now  they  number  in  our  midst  many 
millions,  all  herded  together  in  industrial  centers  and 
who  threaten  with  their  low  ideals  and  base  habits 
of  life  to  destroy  our  civilization  as  the  Huns  and 
Vandals  of  old  destroyed  the  civilization  of  ancient 
Rome  and  set  the  world  back  a  thousand  years  during 
which  rich  and  poor  alike  suffered  from  the  horrors 
of  poverty,  superstition  and  oppression. 

These  ignorant,  depraved  and  brutal  foreigners  are 
led  by  better  educated  but  as  depraved  and  brutal 
officers  who  are  usually  of  a  foreign  extraction,  as 
far  removed  from  American  ideals  of  freedom  of 
speech,  freedom  of  worship,  freedom  of  labor,  and 
freedom  of  government  as  are  these  later  importa- 
tions of  ignorant  herds,  whom  the  leaders  incite  to 
deeds  of  violence  the  leaders  themselves  are  too 
cowardly  to  commit.  These  men,  depraved  leaders 
and  brutal  followers  together,  number  but  two  or 
three  thousand  and  while  exercising  their  own  un- 
doubted right  to  refuse  to  work  have  denied  to  more 
than  10,000  of  their  fellowmen  the  right  to  work. 

The  10,000  workers  have  as  much  right  to  work  as 
the  2,000  idlers  have  to  be  idle. 

Atrocities  Unspeakable 

The  strikers  here  as  everywhere  else  endeavor  by 
intimidation,  by  violence  and  by  assassination  to  en- 
force their  unlawful  and  unjust  edict  that  the  workers 


THE    STRIKE   IN    COLORADO  11 

must  iiuii  tlu'ir  work.  The  lawful  authorities  of  Colo- 
rado, acting  under  their  sworn  duty,  endeavored  to 
protect  peaceable  workingmen  in  their  right  to  work 
and  in  their  right  to  live.  The  strikers,  denying  both 
rit-hts,  defied  the  government  and  made  open  war 
against  it.  This  is  no  exaggeration.  They  actually 
issued  and  published  an  open  and  formal  declaration 
of  war  against  Colorado  and  made  a  call  for  troops 
They  enlisted  men  to  fight  against  Colorado  .they 
drilled  these  men  into  armies,  they  marched  these 
armies  from  place  to  place,  these  armies  fought 
battles  against  the  State  troops,  they  killed  Colorado 
soldiers,  occasionally  in  open  battle  but  more  often 
by  assassination.  They  deliberately  and  treacher- 
ously murdered  a  hospital  surgeon  while  wearing  his 
Red  Cross  uniform  and  while  performing  his  duty  of 
ministering  to  a  wounded  man.  After  their  leaders 
had  made  a  solemn  treaty  and  had  agreed  to  a  tem- 
porary truce  these  strikers  openly  marched  across 
the  country  burning  and  destroying  property  and 
murdering  Colorado's  citizens.  They  have  driven 
men,  women  and  children  into  mines  and  have  delib- 
erately and  intentionally  destroyed  the  shafts  and 
openings  with  the  intention  of  killing  them  by  fire 
and  suffocation.  They  have  set  fire  to  boarding 
houses  and  purposely  burned  alive  unoffending  and 
non-combatant  workingmen.  They  have  been  guilty 
of  atrocities  unspeakable  and  innumerable. 

They  are  even  now  standing  in  flagrant  defiance 
of  the  authority  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States  and  are  treating,  negotiating  and  haggling 
with  the  officers  of  the  army  as  to  the  conditions 
and  terms  c-n  which  they  will  agree  to  surrender 
their  arms. 

Treason 

Our  Constitution  defines  treason  as  "levying  war 
against  the  State  or  in  adhering  to  its  enemies,  giving 
them  aid  or  comfort." 

Under  this  definition  all  these  strikers,  but  espe- 
cially their  officers  and  leaders,  as  well  as  those 
disloyal  State  officials  who  are  in  league  with  them, 
and  also  those  newspapers,  women's  organizations 
and  Christian  Citizenship  Unions  "adhering  to  them 
and  giving  them  aid  and  comfort"  are,  all  of  them, 
guilty  of  treason  against  the  State  and  that  in  its 
most  heinous  form. 

The  law  of  organized  society  has  ever  been  and 
must  ever  be  that  whoever  raises  his  hand  against 
the  government  is  a  traitor  and  must  pay  the  penalty 


12  THE   STRIKE   IN    COLORADO 

with  his  life.  In  DO  other  way  can  organized  govern- 
ment exist.  Whoever  complains  of  wrongs  in  ex- 
isting laws  must  turn  his  attention  to  their  correction 
by  peaceful  means.  He  who  attempts  to  correct  his 
own  wrongs  by  force  is  a  criminal.  He  who  attempts 
to  correct  the  wrongs  of  society  by  force  is  a  traitor. 

We  speak  of  this  organization  as  armies,  with  no 
idea  of  dignifying  them  or  the  purpose  of  their  being, 
but  only  for  the  purpose  of  indicating  their  size  and 
deliberate  purpose.  In  reality  they  were  frenzied 
mobs,  drunk  with  the  lust  for  blood,  who  rushed 
from  mine  to  mine  burning  and  destroying  property, 
murdering  men  and  mutilating  their  dead  bodies  like 
wild  beasts  or  brutal  barbarians  and  respecting 
neither  flag  of  truce,  red  cross  nor  any  of  the  rules 
of  civilized  warfare. 

In  all  these  acts  of  treason,  murder,  pillage  and 
arson  the  strikers  have  been  aided,  abetted  and  en- 
couraged by  newspapers  as  venal  and  truckling  as 
the  strikers  are  depraved  and  vicious  and  by  State 
officials  who  by  reason  of  their  betrayal  of  their 
oaths  of  office  and  of  their  duty  as  officials  are  more 
guilty  of  these  treasons  and  assassinations  than  are 
the  ignorant,  misguided  strikers  whom  these  offi- 
cials and  newspapers  have  by  their  appeals  to  passion 
and  prejudice  influenced  to  commit  the  actual  deeds 
of  violence. 

By  reason  of  the  reign  of  terror  established  by 
these  strikers,  agitators  and  newspapers,  freedom  of 
speech  and  freedom  to  work  have  been  in  a  large 
measure  denied  to  the  people  of  Colorado. 

The  strike  has  more  or  less  completely  involved 
seven  different  coal  mining  districts,  some  of  them 
400  miles  apart,  and  in  which  are  over  a  hundred 
mines,  each  of  which  must  have  its  detail  of  soldiers 
to  insure  protection.  There  are  also  many  towns, 
railroad  bridges  and  other  properties  all  subject  to 
attack  and  destruction. 

Good  Work  of  the  National  Guard 

The  Colorado  National  Guard  has  served  in  these 
strike  districts  with  less  than  half  the  number  of 
men  demanded  by  the  regular  army  officers  for  the 
same  purposes.  They  were  not  furnished  with  suf- 
ficient clothing  or  supplies,  they  received  no  pay  for 
over  three  months  by  reason  of  the  worse  than 
treasonable  actions  of  our  State  auditor  and  other 
officials,  and  they  were  denied  that  moral  support 
from  press  and  people  that  a  nation's  troops  are 
entitled  to  in  time  of  war.  In  spite  of  all  these  diffi- 


Till;    STRIKE    IN    COLORADO  13 

mlties  our  State  troops  for  six  months  maintained 
absolute  peace,  quiet  and  safety  in  the  strike  dis- 
ts  without  loss  of  life  on  either  side  and  without 
loss  of  property  of  any  kind  to  any  one.  Under  the 
most  trying  circumstances,  subjected  daily  to  the 
vilest  abuse  of  the  most  brutal  of  men  and  of  women 
almost  as  brutal,  they  conducted  themselves  with 
a  dignity,  decorum  and  sense  of  military  duty  worthy 
of  the  highest  commendation  and  praise. 

Commendation  and  Denunciation 

In  view  of  all  these  facts,  conditions  and  circum- 
stances ve  call  upon  the  country  to  revise  and  to 
reverse  its  opinion  of  the  government  and  troops  of 
the  State  of  Colorado  and  to  commend  them  for  their 
efforts  to  properly  solve  a  question  that  did  not 
originate  here  but  has  been  thrust  upon  us  by  the 
attitude  of  the  country  at  large  upon  the  questions  of 
labor  and  immigration.  We  call  upon  Congress  to 
immediately  pass  the  Burnett  bill  which  will,  in  large 
measure,  prevent  the  immigration  to  this  country  of 
these  illiterate,  depraved  and  criminal  hordes  which 
are  now  pouring  into  this  land  and  who  threaten  its 
very  life.  The  perpetuity  of  American  institutions, 
the  safety  of  life  and  property,  and  the  pr&tection 
of  our  own  people  are  of  greater  importance  to  us 
and  to  the  world  than  is  the  maintenance  of  a 
maudlin  sentiment  which  permits  the  invasion  of  our 
country  by  ignorant  hordes  who  know  nothing  of 
and  who  would  ruthlessly  destroy  its  beneficent  in- 
stitutions. 

We  most  heartily  commend  Gen.  John  Chase,  com- 
manding, and  the  officers  and  men  of  our  National 
Guard  for  their  patient  forbearance  and  soldierly 
attitude  under  the  most  trying  and  adverse  conditions 
and  circumstances. 

We  commend  Governor  Ammons  for  his  efforts  to 
maintain  law  and  order  in  the  community. 

We  most  severely  denounce  those  disloyal  State 
officials  whose  weakness  and  treachery  tied  the  Gov- 
ernor's hands  and  gave  aid  and  comfort  to  enemies 
of  the  State. 

We-  as  severely  denounce  those  newspapers  which 
by  their  inflammable  articles  and  comments,  and  by 
their  prejudiced  and  distorted  reports,  have  at- 
tempted to  place  the  blame  where  it  does  not  belong, 
have  defamed  and  humiliated  Colorado  and  its  gov- 
ernment, both  civil  and  military,  and  have  excused, 
justified  and  been  potent  factors  in  inciting  those 
deeds  of  violence  that  have  disgraced  the  past  and 
which  now  endanger  the  future  of  the  State 


14  THE    STRIKE    IN    COLORADO 

We  as  warmly  commend  those  newspapers  that 
have  told  the  truth  and  have  bravely  stood  for  law 
and  order. 

We  cannot  find  words  strong  enough  to  express 
our  horror  and  detestation  of  those  infamous  men 
and  hysterical  women  who  as  leaders  and  advisers 
of  their  ignorant  followers,  or  as  their  defenders  and 
apologists,  are  the  real  traitors  and  murderers  in  this 
frightful  striker's  war.  Their  words  and  their  deeds 
are  ineradicable  blots  on  the  pages  of  the  history  of 
our  State  and  of  our  civilization. 

Peace  Before  Prosperity 

There  must  be  peace  before  there  can  be  prosper- 
ity. There  must  be  order  in  the  community  and 
safety  for  life  and  limb  before  we  can  turn  our  at- 
tention to  the  correction  of  existing  wrongs.  Violence 
begets  violence  and  must  be  repressed  by  the  stern 
hand  of  organized  society. 

The  good  book  tells  us  that  if  a^man  will  not  work 
neither  shall  he  eat.  We  contend  that  if  a  man  will 
not  work,  if  he  prefers  that  his  wife  and  children 
shall  starve,  he  at  least  shall  not  be  permitted  to  kill 
and  murder  other  men  who  do  wish  to  work  in  order 
to  save  their  wives  and  children  from  starvation. 

It  is  no  longer  a  question  as  to  whether  non-union 
men  shall  be  allowed  to  WORK  in  Colorado,  it  is  now 
a  question  as  to  whether  or  not  any  man  shall  be 
allowed  to  LIVE  without  permission  from  the  labor 
union. 

Wars  for  Freedom 

Fifty  years  ago  we  fought  a  great  war  in  this 
country  to  establish  the  right  of  a  man  not  to  be  com- 
pelled to  work  for  another  unless  he  wished  to  do  so. 

Now  we  are  facing  a  threatened  war  which  we  must 
fight  to  establish  the  right  of  a  man  to  work  for  an- 
other if  he  wishes  to  do  so. 

That  war  was  fought  to  free  men  from  slavery  to 
private  individuals.  This  war  if  it  comes,  and  it 
seems  as  though  come  it  must,  will  have  to  be  fought 
to  free  men  from  slavery  to  private  organizations. 

Both  the  slaveholding  individual  before  the  war 
and  the  slaveholding  labor  union  of  the  present  pre- 
tend that  the  slaves  are  being  held  for  their  own 
good,  though  against  their  own  will,  and  both  claim 
that  if  the  slaves  will  not  voluntarily  submit  to  their 
masters  they .  must  be  beaten  into  submission  or 
killed.  Both  hypocritically  claim  that  this  is  for  the 
good  of  humanity. 


THK    STRIKE    IN    COLORADO  1  "> 

True  Theory  of  Employment 

The  true  theory  is  that  every  employer  shall  be 
allowed  to  employ  whom  he  pleases  and  every  em- 
ployee shall  be  allowed  to  work  for  whom  he  pleases 
so  that  employer  and  employee  are  agreed  as  to  the 
terms  and  conditions  of  the  employment.  Any  other 
principle  is  a  denial  of  freedom  to  the  individual  and 
a  denial  of  freedom  is  the  essence  of  slavery. 

Fundamental  Principles  of 
Government 

\\V  reaffirm  in  the  most  positive  terms  and  as  the 
fundamental  principles  of  popular  and  free  govern- 
ment: 

1st.  The  right  to  worship  God,  every  man  in  his 
own  way. 

2nd.  The  right  of  free  speech,  with  responsibility 
for  the  abuse  of  this  right. 

3rd.  The  right  of  labor  to  be  free  from  any  master, 
religious,  personal,  corporate,  or  union. 

4th.  The  right  of  capital  to  the  safety  of  its  in- 
vestments, and  that  it  be  subject  to  no  tyranny  of 
private  organization  but  only  to  the  majesty  of  the 
law. 

5th.  The  right  of  every  man  to  protection  by  the 
State  of  his  life,  his  limbs,  and  his  property. 

6th.  The  impartial  enforcement  of  every  law 
whether  it  be  for  the  protection  of  labor  or  for  the 
protection  of  property. 

7th.  Swift,  sure  and  severe  punishment  for  all 
offences  against  the  law,  and  especially  of  such  high 
crimes  as  treason  and  murder. 

We  call  upon  all  good  and  patriotic  citizens  to 
stand  ready  to  uphold  these  fundamental  rights  with 
every  power  of  voice,  pen  and  vote,  with  every  ounce 
of  strength  and  every  drop  of  blood,  with  every  power 
that  organized  and  civilized  society  can  bring  to  bear. 

In  this  way,  and  in  this  way  only,  can  our  fair 
State,  our  beautiful  country,  our  boasted  civilization, 
our  ancient  rights,  and  even  our  lives  be  saved. 


16  THE    STRIKE   IN    COLORADO 

Submitted  as  a  Warning 

Fraternally  submitted  to  our  brothers  of  the  Order 
throughout  the  country  and  to  the  world  outside  as  a 
warning  of  the  danger  that  threatens  the  Republic 
through  the  importation  into  this  country  of  these 
lawless  forces  that  are  breeding  treason  and  making 
war  upon  our  dearest  institutions. 

Kensington  Council  No.  16,  Jr.  O/U.  A.  M.,  Denver, 
Colo.,  by  its  Committee  appointed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  drawing  up  and  of  promulgating  tnis 
statement. 

C.  W.  VARNUM,  Chairman, 
L.  A.  HASTINGS,  Secretary, 
H.  H.  EDDY, 
O.  B.  SCOBEY, 
P.  L.  VARNEY. 


We  hereby  certify  that  the  above  resolution  was 
chis  day  unanimously  adopted  at  a  regular  meeting 
of  Kensington  Council  No.  16,  Jr.  O.  U.  A.  M.,  and 
the  Committee  was  instructed  to  have  5,000  copies 
printed  in  pamphlet  form  and  to  send  a  copy  to  all 
National  and  State  Officers  and  to  every  Council  of 
the  Order,  and  that  a  copy  be  sent  to  the  American, 
the  official  organ  of  the  Order,  with  a  request  that  it 
be  published. 

The  Committee  was  further  instructed  to  transmit 
a  copy  to  his  Excellency  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  a  copy  to  each  member  of  the  Congress,  and  a 
copy  to  the  Governor  of  every  State  in  the  Union. 

The  Committee  was  also  instructed  to  transmit  a 
copy  to  our  Representatives  in  Congress,  with  the 
request  that  they  present  it  as  a  memorial  to  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  a  copy  to  our  Sen- 
ators, with  the  request  that  they  present  it  as  a 
memorial  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  they  be  requested  to  secure  the  printing  of  this 
statement  in  the  Congressional  Record. 

Witness  our  hands  at  Denver,  Colorado,  this  19th 
day  of  May,  A.  D.  1914. 

(Seal.)  EDWARD  H.  WAHL, 

L.  T.  FROST,  Councilor. 

Assistant  Recording  Secretary. 


This  statement  was  printed 
in  the  Congressional  Record 
of  May  29,  1914.  at  the 
request  of  Senator  Thomas. 


"To  bear  true  allegiance 

to  our  government — its 

institutions,  constitutions 

and   laws." 


"Among  free  men  there  can  be 

no  successful  appeal  from  the 

ballot  to  the  bullet,  and  they 

who  take  such  appeal  are  sure 

to  lose  their  case  and 

pay  the  cost." 

Abraham  Lincoln 


